Doing this liquid fasting/cleanse thing with my wife. I'm not sure if there will be a Day 2 for me, but that's my goal, to get through two days. I've done it for one day before so I know I can do that. She's shooting for 10 days. We're drinking a lemonade mixture with a little maple syrup for calories and some cayenne pepper, which I think has some appetite-suppressant qualities. It's pretty good. We exercise regularly and eat healthy so there's nothing pressing about doing this, but Mrs D was wanting to do it and I told her I'd join her for a couple days at least. We've been reading up on this and people say they feel great with dramatically increased energy after just a few days. We'll see.
I've done several cleanses. Specific Products 21 day cleanse. Lots of vegetables and pills. I lost a ton of weight (for me) and have kept it off since. I felt and slept great on it.
Thanks for the info envgeo. Did you do 21 days? Morning of Day 2 now and I feel great, hunger is not a problem. I'm pretty lean—5’11” and 178 lbs—so I don't need to lose weight, mostly interested to see if the energy increase happens like I've heard.
Morning of Day 3, Thursday, a few observations. I don't recall ever going this long without food, certainly not deliberately, and it's interesting. - No solid food since dinner Monday night. Just the lemonade mix, water, coffee in the morning, one glass of wine at night. - I sleep very soundly, but this is normal for me. - Woke about an hour earlier than usual this morning, feeling that I've slept enough. - Not tired, not hungry. Although yesterday I had a few moments watching my kids eat, I was hungry and wanted to. - Preparing dinner for the kids yesterday was strange: to be on the periphery of a simple but important family/social/cultural function like a meal, but not really participating. It feels weird - what to do at dinner time? - Food is interesting when you're not eating. I open the fridge to get some lemonade and I see all this food that I'm not having. I go to the pantry to get the cereal for the kids, and there's all this food, it almost seems foreign and funny to look at. - Weight is at 173 this morning, down a few pounds but there's nothing in here. - Went for a run yesterday and my energy was down just slightly, but I felt good. Based on how I feel this morning I think my energy may be up today. I feel really good. I read some more about fasting yesterday and the literature says a healthy person can easily do a 21-day fast as long as we're getting some nutrition, resting well, not overly stressed, etc. The body goes into a super-efficient metabolic state, burning fat and wastes as it no longer has to direct its energy to the digestion and assimilation of food. I don't know how long I'll continue with this but right now I feel that Day 3 will be fine. It's day 4 for my wife and it helps to have someone else doing it with me. I quit nicotine eight weeks ago and getting through that gave me a lot of confidence in terms of handling change, moving through physical cravings and staying in the moment.
Just wondering, but do you poop at all? If you do, what is it like? I don't mean to gross anyone out. I'm just curious.
Didn't mention this - we started with some sea salt & water mix and drank that, I don't remember how much - but this primes the cleansing by getting things moving, so to speak. After that, nothing for me so far. Going into the evening of Day 3 and I still feel good, but I want to eat. Also a little cranky feeling but that's normal according to some things I've read. The wife said day 3 was tough for her as well, and that she's much better on day 4.
Morning of Day 4, Friday. Had one cup of coffee this morning although I don't need it. I sat on the back deck and meditated for about 15 minutes after I got up and I feel very alert and clear. Late afternoon yesterday I was in an irritable mood and a little fuzzy-headed, but nothing serious. We've been drinking the lemonade mix but I'm pretty sick of it now so I think I'll just stick with water and tea for a while. I feel good. Slept well and I'm thinking about breaking the fast today, but I'm going to let the day progress a little further and see how I feel. It's like a project to me now, an experiment to see what the body and mind will do. If I continue for a few more days I hope to be all zen-like, levitating and bending flatware with my immaculate thoughts.
It's a different animal, but yes I have made 21days. First 10 are all veggies/fruit. Someone asked about elimination. There seems to be more output than input, .
How much does it work to have jamba juice type drinks for meals? They are blended fruits etc.. and can add up to 500 calories or so a drink.. but, does that offer similar benefits?
I made it until about 4:00 on Friday, nearly four full days, when the wife and I decided: let's eat! We harvested some fresh veggies out of the backyard garden — tomatos, yellow squash, zucchini, green beans — and she made some divine vegetable soup. I don't know about the jamba juice thing, but I think part of the goal is to minimize digestive activity as much as possible and give the internals a ‘rest’ so to speak. Eating is an interesting phenomenon when you're not doing it. I felt like I was totally detached from it for a little while there, and became an observer of the process. It's odd to notice how little sustenance our bodies really need for survival.
Ok I just spoke to someone well versed in nutrition and heard this about the liquid diet- We all hold a few pounds of crap, just hanging out in the digestive system. Going on a liquid diet expedites the departure of said 'crap', and offers no real difference in nutrition vs. solid foods. As soon as you return to solid foods, the crap builds up once again, as does the weight. It is a temporary weight loss system. What say ye, oh other side of the discussion? Curious minds want to know, I am on the fence here.
I work out quite a bit. I cant imagine not being weak after a couple days drinking only a lemonade/syrup mixture. Did you really not feel weak on your run?
Energy was down a little that day so I noticed it during the run, but I intentionally avoided other physical exertion like working out with weights, which I do a few times a week. I wanted to run partly because I love it, but also to see how I would feel doing that during a fast. I don't know all the physiology but my guess is we have some energy stores that can sustain a good bit of activity for a while, even when fasting.
Yo, as I mentioned up the thread a bit, I broke the fast at 4:00 on a Friday, almost four full days without solid food. Mrs D went five days. Days 1 and 2 I felt fine, on day 3 I was a little grumpy and fuzzy-headed, felt great again on day 4. I slept well and my energy was generally good, but that's usually the case anyway. I felt like I could have gone another day or two - it wasn't hunger so much as I just missed the enjoyment of eating. It's weird to watch everyone around you (in our case, the kids) having meals and snacks and to not be participating. It felt good to give the body a rest and I guess there are some health benefits to doing this occasionally, although I don't really know that for sure. I will definitely do it again, the wife and I are thinking may twice a year and see how it goes. One thing that helps is to stay in the moment, and not be thinking about what happens later or how you're going to deal with hunger or anything that's not here and now. At every moment just ask yourself, ‘Am I OK right now’ and the answer will almost surely be Yes. It helps knowing that food is always there and you can get it if you want. When we are mindful and present we have so much more control than we might think.
Scottsins: I can't really answer either question with certainty, but as to the health benefits I've read that it's worthwhile to give our digestive systems a break once in a while, and that our bodies will naturally begin to purge themselves of other ‘wastes’ (I'm not sure that that means!) that have built up over time. At any rate, it felt good to do it, and it made me more mindful about what I eat, and why.
As soon as I read that it was a lemonade mixture, it reminded me of an article I read in a First for Women magazine. It tells of Beyonce Knowles who dropped 22 lbs in 14 days following this. It goes on to say that "...studies show that drinking a cocktail of lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup can melt 16 lbs in 4 days. The antioxidant d-limonene in lemon bolsters the liver's ability to break down fat, while pepper's capsaicin revs metabolism and maple syrup's sugars prevent the breakdown of calorie-hungry muscle that typically occurs while fasting." It was suggested not to cleanse for longer than 3 days. Also, it was suggested that having a whey protein shake in the morning, followed by a glass of water with the lemon juice, a pince of cayenne and 1 Tbs of maple syrup. Have a protein-and-veggie lunch, then drink another lemonade, and eat fish and veggies for dinner. Do this for 7 days on, 3 days off and 7 days on to lose 10 lbs. Repeat the 17-day cycle once every 6 months." According to Beyonce, her nutritionist suggested the only way to lose weight really fast was to do the lemonade fast." I bought the lemon juice, maple syrup, and have cayenne pepper, but wasn't sure how much lemon juice to use. Wondering if this really works? May give it a shot!!
There is NO CHANCE that ANYONE no matter how fat can lose that much weight in those few days without being seriously ill. You might go from 300 to 280 in water weight, but it'll just come right back. You just can't drink something that will make your body burn up years of accumulation in a few weeks. I had a serious illness and lost a shitton of weight, but it took 60 days in the hospital on a feeding tube and it all came back with a VERY modest diet because I had no appetite. It has come back down to respectable levels because I have lost any appetite at all. It's actually quite simple. Exercise more (burn calories) or eat less (ingest fewer calories) or BETTER YET, do both. It's called thermodynamics by scientific people. You either store energy (calories) or you use it. You can't have a fire without something to burn, but you can store some firewood out back.
